Dr. Irwin Jacobs of La Jolla to retire from Qualcomm's Board of Directors

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) announced that Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs will complete his current term on Qualcomm's Board of Directors and will retire from the Board at the 2012 annual stockholder meeting. In recognition of Dr. Irwin Jacobs' exceptional achievements with the Company, the Board has conferred upon him the title of “Founding Chairman and CEO Emeritus,” effective upon conclusion of his board service at the annual meeting.

"When we first started Qualcomm, I told my wife Joan that, if we were lucky, we might grow to 100 employees," Dr. Irwin Jacobs said. "We clearly have surpassed that. I am immensely proud of the company we have built, its more than 22,000 employees, and the impact Qualcomm has made on the telecom industry and the lives of mobile users worldwide. I leave knowing that Qualcomm's strong management team and technical roadmap will ensure the Company's continuing success."

Of the move, his son, Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm said, “As a father, university professor and business leader, Irwin inspired generations of engineers, including me, to think beyond what is possible today and pursue the technology breakthroughs of tomorrow. Qualcomm's business model and culture of innovation are due to Irwin's vision and leadership. He continues to inspire all of us here at Qualcomm as we pioneer the next generation of mobile technologies. On behalf of all of our employees around the globe, we thank Irwin for his leadership, creativity, enthusiasm and integrity."

Dr. Irwin Jacobs served as chief executive officer from Qualcomm's founding on July 1, 1985 to its 20th anniversary, June 30, 2005 and as chairman from founding until March 2009.

He and his six co-founders established Qualcomm with the goal of creating a company that could innovate rapidly and develop commercial solutions to some of the communication industry's most challenging problems.

Previously, Dr. Irwin Jacobs co-founded and led Linkabit, an influential development and manufacturing company whose cutting-edge approach to technology ultimately made it an incubator to more than 100 other technology companies in San Diego. Linkabit was sold to M/A-Com in August 1980 and Dr. Jacobs remained as executive vice president of M/A-Com until April 1, 1985.

He was a faculty member of electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1959-1966) and at the University of California, San Diego (1966-1972).

Dr. Irwin Jacobs is currently chair of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and of the National Academy of Engineering. He has received many industry, education and business accolades, including the National Medal of Technology in 1994, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell medal in 1995, the Financial Times Lifetime Achievement award for 25 years in Telecommunications in 2005, the IEEE and Royal Society of Edinburgh James Clerk Maxwell Award in 2007, and the Marconi Society Prize in 2011.

He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.